- Buzzin' Fly Monthly Sundays @ Plastic People, Shoreditch UK
- 02.05.2006 ::: Jessica Lowry
Ben Watt is a name that always wins my attention. Last Sunday I gleefully found myself on the other side of the pond rocking up to Plastic People for one of Buzzin’ Fly’s monthly sessions in London. There are certain DJs I have zero qualms about being referred to as a groupie for supporting tirelessly. If you’re not familiar with who Ben Watt is, his accolades stretch far too wide and deep to get into. His Buzzin' Fly Crew's most recent accomplishment was receiving five nominations at the House Music Awards 2005. These being: Label Of The Year, Most Innovative Producer (Ben Watt), Best Breakthrough Producer (Justin Martin), Best Breakthrough DJ (Justin Martin), Outstanding A&R (Ben Watt). Talent like this doesn’t just happen, Watt began spinning his own unique sound through freestyle sets back in the 90’s developing something exceptional and genuine.
Coming onto the decks, Watt commanded the room’s attention with his perfectly mixed and an exquisitely balanced set. I along with several other loyal followers remained perhaps a foot away from the decks once he began. I’d hoped Watt would put down at least one Toronto produced track as it’s always pretty dope to experience something familiar while away from home; sort of makes you feel like us Canadians aren’t living in an insulated bubble or sorts, however, an international playlist isn’t the point of the evening. Instead it’s an opportunity for testing tracks off of Watt’s own Buzzin Fly label and others such as DirtyBird and OM, which is a unique and entertaining experience to witness firsthand. Instead of going to the record shop to listen to the hot track off an album one can simply show up and observe first hand how the crowd reacts, responds and almost more importantly how it’s conveyed on a large sound system.
All of the usual suspects were there: Chris Woodward, Justin Martin, Manoo, Rocco, Alex S, Charles Webster, and Kayot. It is an evening perfectly summarized by the eflyer, ‘Lights down, low ceiling, fat sound where we roadtest the latest cuts and drop the finest bombs. Nice bar too. 150 capacity. Perfect end-of-weekend splash. Super-warm Funktion 1 sound system! Midnight finish.’
Experiencing top DJ’s in such a chill and intimate setting further convinces me that the super club is by far not the way to go about creating a quality evening. The end to the weekend format removes the possibility of an over-hyped or over-occupied event, and satisfies ones need for good music and easing the transition from weekend to work-week.
Plastic People is a venue much like our own Toronto after-hours. For me it verified that we are on the right track with our unpretentious and approachable forté.
Those of you lucky enough to be heading down to sunny Miami this March can experience all that Buzzin Fly has to offer at Suite (the old Liquid venue) as part of the Miami Winter Music Conference 2006. Âme from Berlin's Sonar Kollektiv label, and Claude VonStroke will be joining the regular crew.
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